Tennessee

January 12, 2010

Lane Kiffin's announcement that he's leaving Tennessee for USC has ticked off the locals in Knoxville. Hundreds of students gathered on Johnny Majors Boulevard and blocked the road, apparently with the goal of keeping Kiffin from leaving the parking lot at the Neyland-Thompson Sports Complex. They also borrowed a page from the West Virginia playbook by igniting a mattress.

After the jump is video of one fan's reaction. Note that the video contains obscenities. Thanks to Richard.

Lane Kiffin gives Vol Nation 60 seconds of his valuable time as he heads out the door for Los Angeles. Live cameras were barred from the news conference, and Kiffin wanted to allow only 30 seconds of video from the event. The TV stations present refused to abide by that restriction.

Meanwhile, dozens of students and fans marched into the Neyland-Thompson Sports Complex and chanted obscenities at Kiffin, who was informing his players of his departure to USC. Police were called to quell the crowd.

Lane Kiffin is leaving after one season at Tennessee to become coach at USC, replacing Pete Carroll.

Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times and Chris Low of ESPN reported that Kiffin had agreed to become the Trojans' coach.

Kiffin reportedly will bring his father and defensive coordinator Monte, and assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron with him to USC.

The move comes after Jack Del Rio, a target of USC's search, was retained as coach of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars.

Kiffin, 34, the youngest head coach in Division I-A, was an assistant at USC under Carroll from 2001-06 before becoming coach of the NFL's Oakland Raiders in 2007. He lasted only 20 games in Oakland, going 5-15.

He was introduced as Tennessee's coach on Dec. 1, 2008, and went 7-6 in one season.

He quickly developed a reputation in the Southeastern Conference for playing loose and fast with the rules. Kiffin committed at least six secondary violations and the program is currently being investigated by the NCAA for its use of hostesses to attract players to Knoxville.

December 09, 2009

The NCAA is investigating Tennessee's recruiting practices, with a significant part of the probe centering on the use of recruiting hostesses, according to the New York Times.

Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton confirmed an investigation was under way. He declined to elaborate. "Typically, we do not comment on inquires that are in progress," he told the newspaper.

Although Lane Kiffin's program has been cited for at least six secondary violations, the school's use of student hostesses could result in serious violations.

Hostesses are considered representatives of the university, which would mean they could not recruit players off campus. But in one case, hostesses traveled nearly 200 miles to attend a high school game in South Carolina that featured three Tennessee recruits. According to Marcus Lattimore, a running back at James F. Byrnes High in Duncan, S.C., the hostesses brought signs. One read, "Come to Tennessee."

November 12, 2009

One of the men police said was a victim of an attempted armed robbery by three Tennessee players Thursday morning thinks the players should stay on the team.

"I think they should still be able to play football, regardless. Tennessee is my place. It's my football team," Corey B. Zickefoose, 20, told WATE-TV in Knoxville.

"Even after they put a gun in your face, you say let them play football?" reporter Harlow Sumerford asked.

"Yeah, it's Tennessee. That's the way it is sometimes," Zickefoose said.

Defensive back Janzen Jackson, 19, receiver Nu'Keese Richardson, 19, and defensive back Michael Edwards, 18, were arrested and are being charged with attempted armed robbery. Marie Montmarquet, 21, was also charged with attempted armed robbery, as well as some drug-related offenses.

Zickefoose said he was sitting in the driver's seat of a 1998 Hyundai Elantra when one of the players opened the door, pointed a gun at him and demanded money.